The board has tapped engineering firm Bartlett & West to provide preliminary designs to create a master plan for city sidewalks for a fee of $1,150.

The city's enhancement committee hopes to use that information to receive an auxiliary transportation grant through the Missouri Department of Transportation.

On this front, committee chair Ron Holtz reported that the proposed matching grant could be more expensive for the city than previously anticipated. The required 20 percent match for the grant must be made in cash - not in-kind work as previously thought, he said.

Holtz also showed the board a mock-up of a letter of a Hollywood-style sign announcing Lake of the Ozarks Westside that city business leaders are working on in conjunction with the enhancement committee. In addition to Holtz, the committee consists of Jill Bell, Alderman Karen Dobbins, Mac Mount and Public Works Director Ed Young.

A survey of the property on the north side of town along Hwy. 5 where the proposed sign could go is also in the works. The sign project is being funded through donations.

In a separate issue, a committee was formed a few months ago to review the city's sign ordinance to see if the rules were prohibitively restrictive for the small businesses in town.

After reviewing the ordinance along with state statutes on signage, Young reported the committee had not found anything that needed to be changed. Dennis Devine, Jim Clarke, Dick Dobbins and Diane Holtz served on this committee.